Putting Safety First

Monday, 21 October 2019 at 07:38

A collaboration between the City of Woodstock and municipalities in Oxford County will see them work on a Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. The provincial government passed legislation that all municipalities must have a plan in place.

WOODSTOCK - The City of Woodstock will collaborate with other municipalities in the County to create a Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

The plan was brought to Woodstock City council at last Thursday's meeting.

Mayor Trevor Birtch says this will make the community a safer place to be.

"This will allow us to make sure that no matter what comes up for emergencies or issues in our community that we have a standard approach moving forward on that."

The main areas the plan will focus on will be social development, prevention, risk intervention and incident response.

The provincial government passed legislation that all municipalities must have a plan in place. Staff's report says legislative amendments were made to the Police Services Act, 1990 in January of this year, and municipalities are required to work with the police services along with other sectors including health, mental health and education.

Council's report says a plan must be prepared and adopted by January 1st, 2021.

Mayor Birtch says staff will look at how the municipalities will work together.

"One of the biggest of the things that they'll be looking at is all of the collaboration. We have so many different groups that come together that help out in all of these aspects, so making sure that we have a full inventory of what's available and where it's available that'll be first and foremost."

He adds $10,000 will be put towards the project to hire a consultant, who will help lead the exercise and make sure all of the information that's gathered is put together in a systemic approach ensuring this plan will benefit each of the municipalities.

The partnership will include the Town of Ingersoll and Town of Tillsonburg, and the five townships throughout the region.

He adds they'll look to have a plan over the coming year.